Travelgo - Will they check passport details for Domestic Flights?

OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 08:27
Last edited 19/11/2019 - 08:37

tl;dr Has anybody on here used Travelgo and can share their experience?
When adding passengers it asks for passports - do they really get checked or could I put a placeholder?

EDIT - FWIW it doesn't check anything when you enter it

Long story:

So the in-laws live in Perth and they want our family (2 adults 2 children, in Sydney) to go over there for Christmas. This will be very tough as our budget is about $1,300.

They have offered to go halves in tickets, however the cheapest flights I've found through the airlines websites is still ~$500 over budget ($3820, Virgin there, Qantas back)

The Ozbargain wiki suggested trying IWTF - which has said Travelgo will book return flights with Virgin for $2,510, which is within our budget.

However, two things are stopping me from pulling the trigger now.

First, there's no mention of Travelgo on Ozbargain whatsoever (being kinda facetious here)

Secondly, when Travelgo asks for passenger details it is compulsory to provide passport details as well.

Now I know for a fact that you do not need a passport to travel domestically. Not one member of our family has one (I had one but it expired in August.) So I'm wondering if the passport details provided will be checked, or if I can just enter bogus details to get the booking to process.

Is anybody on here familiar with this website and do they know if those passport details will be checked?

Travel

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Comments

  • theHMASfriendship on 19/11/2019 - 08:49
    +4

    Now I know for a fact that you do not need a passport to travel domestically.

    I'm guessing you've never been to Tasmania…

    • HighAndDry on 19/11/2019 - 10:55
      -1

      Op said domestically.

      (/jk)

    • OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 11:39

      I hear they need two passports each down there.

      • GoldenDragon888 on 19/11/2019 - 12:36

        One for each head.

        Edit: Some of my best mates are Tasmanian.

  • thatonethere on 19/11/2019 - 09:02
    +1

    Travelgo seems like a very small travel agent - however they don't seem to be registered with ATAS https://www.atas.com.au/travel-agents?suburb=&agent=travelgo

    Website seems a bit bare of details such as ABN/ACN

    • OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 09:19

      I wasn't aware of ATAS, thanks.

      Regarding ABN - I haven't done a deeper dive yet, but given the contact details at the bottom of the page, +86 country code selected by default, and the insistence on passport details it appears to be Chinese.

  • Stewardo on 19/11/2019 - 09:19
    +1

    Seems like a big discount, is that the total price? Many .com USA websites will only show full price at the time of payment.
    You can sometimes 10% off virgin with a code if you book direct.

    • OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 11:20

      After filling in the form with bogus details and a Mailinator address I can confirm that is the correct price of the flights.

      Details at checkout were as follows - could pay through credit card/WeChat/AliPay/Paypal

      Order NO.IT8XB31911192NG87889
      Total AUD 2507.16
      ≈ USD 1710.62
      payment will be made in USD

  • Ponsonby on 19/11/2019 - 09:39
    +1

    Very risky to use overseas travel sites with zero Australian consumer redress. Many stories about discount travel sites which take your money and do not book you (despite fake confirmation emails) , or book you on in different flights or deliberately make spelling etc mistakes entering your details in airlines' reservation systems and then charge large fees to correct their mistakes which they say are your mistakes. Travelgo is part of LY,com based in Suzhou China and says it is a "a state level high tech enterprise". May be Chinese govt controlled - there's good and bad in that. But do you really want to book your travel through China?

    • OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 11:25

      To be honest the China part doesn't bother me as much. I have bought from Taobao a number of times and haven't really had a problem…other than some minor glitches with Google Translate.

      I'm not sure if I feel like being the guinea pig though, hence why I asked on here first!

    • OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 11:38

      About LY.com - I've done a bit of searching on them and I have found some evidence of Aussies buying tickets on there OK

  • barozgain on 19/11/2019 - 09:41

    If you have flybuys points or velocity or QFF maybe can use to book seats to save up on one of the 8 tickets?

    • OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 11:21
      +2

      I have about 2000 Flybuys points, nothing else. I should hand in my OzBargain licence, I know.

  • SnowDragon on 19/11/2019 - 10:18

    I wouldn't take the risk personally. Probably doesn't help you are purchasing so close to the date.

    FWIW cheapest I can find is $3200 (flying Tiger, so you may not make it)

    • OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 11:29

      I would have bought further out but the plans have been up in the air until the last few days or so.

      Tigers flight times won't be doable with a 2 year old and 5 year old in tow, otherwise I would have considered them :(

  • brokenglish on 19/11/2019 - 12:10

    Either you cop $1300 and in laws pay the rest.
    Or drive 40h / 4000km 😂

    • OZBMate8911 on 19/11/2019 - 12:29

      As much as I love driving I'd rather just not go!

  • Lastchancetosee on 20/11/2019 - 08:25

    Bus? Train ?

  • OzHunterNSW on 20/11/2019 - 10:07

    Offer them half fare to come and see you.

    Cite concern with your children traveling. Cite unrealistic expectations. Cite Xmas has lost its appeal.

  • KRM123 on 20/11/2019 - 22:16

    Don't book with travelgo, it may be a scam.

    I was interested in it as well, but further research and it seems people are confusing an irish company with travelgo.com and the irish company say they are being bombarded with messages about travelgo.com

    https://au.trustpilot.com/review/travelgo.ie?languages=all

    Can't read the bad reviews, as they have been retracted, but they owner says

    "We let you know you sent your request to wrong website. We are base in Ireland our name is Travelgo Limited at travelgo.ie.

    I checked the design layout you sent to us by email , and i saw you bought your tickets at www.travelgo.com some Chinese owner website. I hope your situation is they will be sorted, but also let you know, we got 5-10 emails/day the same situation. I highly recommend for you for the future never buy any services from this garbage company."

    • OZBMate8911 on 20/11/2019 - 22:39

      Good catch. Guess I have my answer then!

  • CrayMasterRob on 25/11/2019 - 14:14
    +2

    Hi Guys,

    I had a few beers Friday night and looked at Perth to Sydney Return on Kayak for this weekend.

    Travelgo was $200 cheaper than everything else so clicked through and a lot of red flags with it being a crappy website and requiring passport numbers, but was drunk and assumed Kayak would not allow scam websites on their website.

    Money got taken out of my account and I got a confirmation email from TravelGo that looked Dodgy as. No Virgin booking number, all this stuff about IATA etc. Not normal.

    I just started looking into it today, I can't get my reservation up on the Virgin Website, Travelgo only have a chinese number for customer support (i haven't called).

    So anyway very sure I've been scammed. I'll let you know if the tickets do eventually come through though!

    • OZBMate8911 on 25/11/2019 - 16:50

      Now I feel bad for bringing somebodys' attention! I'll be watching this space.

    • CrayMasterRob on 25/11/2019 - 17:05
      +1

      So just an update - I called Virgin with the eticket number supplied on the confirmation and they found it in their system and gave me my booking confirmation number which I could use to find the booking online.

      So NOT a scam for me!

      • OZBMate8911 on 03/12/2019 - 15:02

        Completely missed this comment. Thanks for replying!

        Really glad to hear it worked. I might be able to go over to Perth after all -need to consult with the missus now!

        • everydayrewards on 07/01/2020 - 01:16

          Hi OZBMate8911, if you don't mind, can I ask if you ended up going with Travelgo and if so, what you're experience was like?

  • thaiiy on 07/12/2019 - 14:45
    +1

    Just booked with them today at 12:15pm for a Virgin Australia domestic ticket. Paid by PayPal with credit card just to be doubly safe.

    No confirmation email whatsoever, even now 2 hrs later. It does register on their own website at Travelgo. Login with your email and a verification number they will send you. Funny thing is their verification email is immediate!

    I called Virgin directly at 12:30pm (15mins afterwards) and it was already on their system, so they were able to give me a Virgin confirmation number.

    I didn't provide real passport details however - not required for domestic travel.

    My main concern had been that there would be lots of delay and I would miss out on last remaining cheap tickets for that flight. But it turned out ok. Just be careful.

    • OZBMate8911 on 07/12/2019 - 15:17

      That is awesome. Glad you got a cheap flight! Also answers my question about passport details.

      Also glad I asked this question so at least a fleshed out data point appears on a Google search…

    • thaiiy on 07/12/2019 - 17:54

      Yeah, I'm glad you asked the question before because it is the top result on Iwantthatflight.com.au which is a very popular source for posts on Ozbargain. So it's good to have a focus for reviews.

      Though the update is not good. 5 hrs on and not a single email from them.

      I tried using the Virgin confirmation number given to me by Virgin again. Now it isn't working! "Unable to retrieve booking" error.

      Called Virgin who can still locate the booking but it's still pending confirmation by Travelgo.

      Pretty bad system. Not for the faint hearted.

      • everydayrewards on 07/01/2020 - 01:13

        Hi Thaiiy, any updates / conclusion to this story - i'm on tenterhooks! Also considering booking through Travelgo, so would like to hear how it all ended up.

        • sistermay on 16/01/2020 - 13:26

          Me too ! They have the cheapest flight from HK to Taipei when searched on Iwantthatflight, but online review is almost non exist and the company located in China so got really worry if I book, would that go through without issue !

  • TheOtherDave on 12/04/2020 - 14:26

    I guess I am buying into this convo rather late. I can't understand why you would want to use an obscure site to do bookings when there are a number of reputable sites around. For cheap flights I use Skyscanner, they search the web for you to come up with the best deals form other sites and the airlines themselves, and your booking is guaranteed. I've used them many times to fly to the Philippines, my cheapest fare being only last year for $497AU return, included was a nights accomodation due to the airline schedule.

    They are also particularly good for domestic flights, and no you don't have to provide your passport details with most sites, unless you are booking internationally.

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